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Instructional Resource Guide

Holocaust

Fifth Grade

By: Jordan Huffman

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Table of Contents:Overview and Rationale…..Pgs.3-5

ELL Learning Outcomes.....Pgs.6-7

Instructional Strategies……Pg.8-10

Work Samples…………………Pg.11-19

-Vocab Sample: Pg.15-16

-In Hiding Activity Sample: Pg.17-19

Annotated Bibliography…..Pg.20-21

Summary Reflection………..Pg.22-23

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Overview and Rationale

The Holocaust is material that I would teach during a World War II unit, with a

concentration on the concentration camps and what families had to go through during

this time period. I would get into things that we would need to discuss prior to jumping

into the Holocaust, including: prejudice, cultural identities, connected communities, and

immigration. I would ask my students to rationalize about the similarities and

differences of the world around us, concepts of diversity, prejudice, morality, and

human behavior. While teaching about the Holocaust, I would share books with the

children, such as “The Children We Remember”, by Chana Byers Abells and “A Picture

Book of Anne Frank”, by David A. Adler. Also in teaching the lesson, I will provide video

footage and pictures that are age appropriate for a fifth grader, with my common sense

on my student’s maturity levels. Because this is a devastating time period and subject to

teach, that is very gruesome, I want to make sure that nobody feels uncomfortable in

class while discussing this topic. During this unit, I will provide each student with a list of

key terms that students should familiarize themselves with because they will be quizzed

on them. These words include: Concentration Camp, Final Solution, Dictator, Jews,

Hitler, and Nazis. The students may also take part in group activities of making

butterflies, making Jewish Star armbands and pretending to be in hiding from the Nazis

to see how it felt to be in the Jew’s shoes. Technique I would use in teaching this

material would be through: reading aloud, videos, photographs, and projects.

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I chose this topic because I believe that The Holocaust is a very interesting piece

of history that I found interesting when I learned about it in school. World War II is a

very critical time period with a number of important events that took place, and the

Holocaust is one of those major events. I believe that learning about how the people

were treated in the concentrations camps and acting it out in the group activity will help

children to learn a sense of respect for others and how humans deserve to be treated.

This is a great lesson for students to learn, especially if there are culturally diverse

students in my classroom. This way my students understand that those students

deserve the same amount of respect that they do. The Holocaust can also teach children

about dictators, which can lead to discussion about how our government runs. I chose

this topic in hopes to be able to teach it one day in my own classroom.

For the English Language Learners in my class, the curriculum techniques I use

might vary depending on the stage of development they are at. The stages of

development for English Language Learners include: Preproduction, Early Production,

Speech Emergence, Intermediate Fluency, and Advanced Fluency. For students in these

stages, I would first off put pictures on the key terms sheet along with the words and

detentions, to help them have a better understanding. And for instance, if they are a

Spanish speaker, I could also include the Spanish definition so that they can understand

it in both Spanish and English. If they seem like they are having trouble with key terms, I

could also do the same on the quiz I give them on the key terms. I am providing images

and films to serve as visuals for my English language learners to see that will help them

understand if they are having trouble understanding the material. I will also provide

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them alternatives to write in their journals rather than discuss out loud if they are

embarrassed, so that way I can check for understanding still. I will also use more basic,

or simple, words that they could understand and talk in a way that would help them

understand me better.

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ELL Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, I would like for my students to have a clear understanding of

The Holocaust and important facts about it. They should have knowledge of history and key

terms associated with the Holocaust. The SOL guidelines for the Conflict of the World at War

from 1939 to 1945 include: e) analyzing the Holocaust (Hitler’s Final Solution), its impact on the

Jews and other groups, and the postwar trials of the war criminals. After finishing with this

lesson my students should realize that people are alike, all community members should be

accepted, families helped other families in danger, and how we learn from our past to ensure

that history doesn’t repeat those awful things again. Then they will hopefully apply these

meaningful lessons to their life today. This is a good lesson to teach as far as teaching each

other to respect one another. Sometimes children aren’t always nice to people that are

different from them, so if there are culturally linguistic students in our class, this lesson will

hopefully teach them human decency toward their classmates.

During the Preproduction period, students have minimal comprehension skills,

so the teacher using more basic words to help them understand is an example of a

technique I would use. The Early Production period is where students have limited

comprehension so they will use one to two word responses. They also understand key

words and familiar phrases, so if I repeat myself a lot on the important pieces of

information they should be able to comprehend the material. And in class discussion I

can ask the students yes or no questions or other simple questions. Speech Emergence

period is where students have good comprehension skills and can speak in simple

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sentences. However, they make errors in their writing. So for students that are in this

stage, I will not take off on grammar and other errors in grading their journals. And for

students in the Intermediate Fluency and Advanced Fluency level, they are getting close

to being English speaking students and make fewer mistakes, so therefore there would

not be as many modifications made for them during the lesson.

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Instructional Strategies

To complete this lesson for my students I will need books on the Holocaust: The Children

We Remember and A Picture Book of Anne Frank, video clips and photos to share, websites on

the Holocaust, a list of key terms for every student, quiz on the key terms, crafts for the

armband project, and supplies for the “In Hiding Activity”.

The first activity I would have my students perform would be starting off by

giving each student a butterfly printout. Each student will then take tissue paper, glue, crayons,

and markers to decorate their butterflies to their liking, and then we will share them by

displaying them in the classroom. After they are displayed, we will have a class discussion about

how butterflies are fragile, and they are like the Jewish children in the Holocaust wanting to be

set free. This will introduce what we will be learning about in a fun way, because after all the

Holocaust isn’t really a fun topic to learn about. In fact, it is a very sad topic for children to learn

about, so it is important to give them fun activates. This is a good activity to do for English

Language Learners, because they get to express themselves through their butterfly, and when

they share with the class they can work on their fluency in oral language.

Another activity that we can do together as a class could be a literature circle, where the

class gets in a circle and share books aloud that have to do with the Holocaust. I can read aloud

to the class the books: The Children We Remember and A Picture Book of Anne Frank. Then they

can write in their journals about what they have read. This is a good reading, writing, and

comprehension activity. And English Language Learners can have my help reading over a book

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and then retell to the class what happened in the book, rather than reading the book in front of

the class and not knowing what the words are saying.

We could also do a research report that the students could work on in groups, and then

they can present to the class to work on oral language, and fluency for English Language

Learners. A way I could group the children could be with a fun, visual technique, by asking the

children who is wearing black socks or another type of clothing, pointing to the object, and

having the kids split up in groups by what they are wearing. And because a research project is

kind of hard for them to do, they have a group to help them do the research and other parts of

the project. On the paper I give out with instructions on the project, I would include visual

pictures and simple word sentences to help them understand the steps.

We will also have a quiz on key terms, or vocabulary words. Vocabulary words are

important for every students understanding of any lesson, especially a second language learner.

Vocabulary is key for students that lack comprehension skills, so if they can comprehend what

the most important words are of the lesson, they will have a better understanding of the overall

lesson. On the key terms sheet and the vocabulary quiz I will provide more simple definitions

and visuals to help them succeed. It is also important for me as a teacher to go over these

words many times before the students are assessed on them. Hearing the words repeatedly will

help with their understanding on the words.

The Jewish star activity that I found in the book World War II for Kids is where the

students can make their own Jewish star armbands to wear for class that day. After making the

armbands, the class will be divided in half with on half of them wearing their armbands and the

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other half not wearing them. The half that doesn’t have the armbands on will be allowed to

participate in the class discussion and answer questions. After about thirty minutes I will ask

them how it felt, so they get to see the prejudice. Then the students will be able to throw their

armbands on the floor and stomp on them, and they can tell me why they should be able to

return to the regular class. This helps get the point across that these children were treated way

worse and they couldn’t just return back with everyone else after thirty minutes (Panchyk).

The “In Hiding” activity that I found in the book World War II for Kids, allows children to

feel like the Jews in hiding. They will have paper, pencil, flashlight, two books, favorite personal

possession, one can of food, yardstick, and a journal. They will then be asked to find a place to

hide in the room, in the dark, and write down notes in their journal. I will be looking for the size

of the hiding place, if there were windows or not, if there was any light, could their flashlight be

seen by others, if it was sound proof. While hiding, they should try to read with flashlight and

whisper, write in their journal, after twenty minutes, how they are feeling, if they have been

there weeks/months/years, and what they would want to tell their friends and family members

who might find the journal (Panchyk). In English language learner’s journals, I would have

printouts of visuals of all objects and things I am asking for, with the word in English, and the

word in their language.

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Work Samples

The silent period is referred to the silent period because students are not talking much

yet in this stage. The average time period a student is in this particular stage lasts about two to

six months. Typically students can understand more than they can actually speak aloud. This

period is the most difficult period for the student and teacher. It is important for teachers to

boost their self-esteem, and it is also important for teachers to keep supplying the student with

communication opportunities regularly.

An idea that I had for this lesson that I could modify for my silent period student would

be Vocabulary words. They are very important for every students understanding of any lesson,

especially a second language learner. Vocabulary is a vital skill for students that lack

comprehension skills, so if they can comprehend what the most important words are of the

lesson, they will have a better understanding of the overall material being taught. The best way

that I thought to use this for helping my students out would be by adding visuals to the

vocabulary words. Also I decided that it would be beneficial to add the sheet in the student’s

native language as well, to help them understand the English version better. I chose simpler

definitions because I know they cannot comprehend very many words yet. As a teacher I want

all my students to succeed to their best potential, and just because they are having trouble

comprehending the language doesn’t mean that they cannot comprehend the material. I will

then go over the words with them many times each day before assessing them on it. I know it is

important for them to be hearing the words repeatedly to help with their understanding of

each word. If I believe that student would do better with an oral test talking to me, rather than

a written test with their classmates, I could also make other arrangements. In doing an oral test

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I could ask them in Spanish and have them answer me that way, give them the definitions on a

sheet of paper, in English, and they have to tell me in Spanish what they mean, and I could also

assess them by asking them yes or no questions about the words in English and them answering

with “yes” or “no” in English. There are countless differentiated opportunities for the student to

succeed even with their struggle to learn the English Language. As an example of a student that

speaks Spanish fluently, I created a template for a vocabulary word sheet that I would hand out

to him or her during my lesson, noted on page .

Another activity that I would modify for my silent period student would be the “In Hiding”

activity that I found in the book World War II for Kids. This activity is a great and fun activity for

children because it involves role playing to feel like the Jews in hiding. For the most part

children love being up and moving around, opposed to sitting in their desks, so this is a great

activity to include when covering the Holocaust. It is great hands on experiment for students to

get the feel of what the children their age were going through during this time. Each student

will have paper, pencil, flashlight, two books, a favorite personal possession, one can of food, a

yardstick, and a journal. They will then be asked to find a place to hide in the room, in the dark,

and write down notes in their journal. I will be looking for the size of the hiding place, if there

were windows or not, if there was any light, could their flashlight be seen by others, if it was

sound proof. While hiding, they should try to read with flashlight and whisper, write in their

journal, after twenty minutes, how they are feeling, if they have been there

weeks/months/years, and what they would want to tell their friends and family members who

might find the journal (Panchyk). In English language learner’s journals, I would have printouts

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of visuals of all objects and things I am asking for, with the word in English, and the word in

their language.

For this activity for my students in the silent period of language acquisition, would

benefit from a list of instructions with visual aids. I am already providing the concrete supplies

that they will use when they are in hiding, but it would also help them to have a list with the

object’s name matched to the picture to look at as I go over the items and say the names of the

items. Also for these students they may not know how to use particular items like we use them

here, so I would go over an example of what you should do with each item. Also when talking

about this activity I could include pictures of places were Jews used to hide from the Nazis, so

they understand more of like what they would be hiding in, rather than the spot in the

classroom they chose to hide. And I would use simple phrases for the instructions of what I am

asking the students to do in this activity. In their journals I could also have the questions I want

them to answer printed out in their native language in yes and no form, and then they could

answer the questions with a “yes” or a “no”. All of these modifications would help the student

to be able to participate with their classmates.

Another activity I could include in my class that can be modified would be the Jewish

Star Activity. In that activity I split the class up in two groups. I could split the class up in a visual

way for the English Language learner to understand, and as well as the rest of the class to have

fun. I could ask questions about the clothes the students are wearing. Like point to your jeans,

and find students with them on and so on, as the visual, then divide the students up based on

their clothing items. Also so that student doesn’t have any problems assembling their Jewish

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star armbands, I could assemble one in front of the class before I give them the materials to do

it themselves. This way the student can watch me do what they are being asked to do, slowly,

and as I go I will state clear instructions so there will not be any confusion. This should allow

them ample opportunity to complete the assignment correctly, and if they need any help along

the way I can assist them as well.

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Vocabulary Words:

The HolocaustConcentration Camp (campo de concentración) - camp established by the Nazis to keep Jews as prisoners and kill them (campamento establecido por los nazis para mantener Judios como prisioneros y los matan)

hgitner.com

Final Solution (solución final) – Nazi solution of killing of all Jews (Solución nazi de matar a todos los Judios)

martinfrost.ws

Dictator (dictador) – ruler that has all the power, controlling the government (soberano que tiene todo el poder, el control del gobierno)

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kasamaproject.org

Jews (Judios) – people whose religion is Judaism (personas cuya religión es el judaísmo)

maddyluvmovie.blogspot.com

Hitler – Nazi dictator of Germany who caused the Holocaust (Dictador nazi de Alemania que causó el Holocausto)

knowyourmeme.com

Nazis – people that worked for Hitler because they shared the same beliefs and wanted the Jews dead (gente que trabajó para Hitler porque compartían las mismas creencias y querían los Judios muertos)

deeprunwildcats.org

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In Hiding Activity

List of Materials:

Paper (Papel)

Pencil (Lapiz)

Flashlight (Linterna Eléctrica)

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Books (Libro)

Food (Comida)

Yardstick (Criterio)

Journal (Revista)

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Use your to measure the space of your hiding spot. Use your

to write on your in your while

you are in hiding from the Nazis. It will be dark so use your to see. You will

be there for a long time so read , and you have to eat when you get hungry.

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Annotated Bibliography

Abells, Chana Byers. The Children We Remember. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1986. Print.

This book provides real photos from the Holocaust of the children that had to go through it. It gives us

an idea of what it was like for them, and it makes you feel for them and what they went through. This

teaches children to care for others and know that humans deserve to be treated fair and equal.

Adler, David A. A Picture Book of Anne Frank. New York: Holiday House, 1993. Print.

This book is a great learning tool for fifth graders because it is like Anne Frank’s diary of what happened

and her personal experience going through this time period. It is also a good book to share before

having the children take part in the “In Hiding” activity so they really know what to be thinking about as

they are pretending to be hiding out, much like Anne Frank had to do.

Panchyk, Richard. World War II for Kids. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2002. Print

This book is a great tool to base the lesson of the Holocaust around. Not only does it have information

about all the key terms, but it also has the activities in detail for the children to do in small groups. The

book is based on the important aspects of World War II, and yet there is an entire chapter based on the

Holocaust time frame and its importance.

"Holocaust History." The United States and the Holocaust. United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum, 11 May 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2012

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This website gives a lot of good information on the Holocaust that is credible. It gives a lot of

information on immigrants and the final solution. This is good website to show to the class in

class to help them with their research reports they are doing, and it is a good source of

information on the “Final Solution”, which is a key term they have in this lesson. So this website

will definitely add to my students knowledge on the Holocaust. And this website is particularly

good for my English language learners in my classroom because the website offers the

information in thirteen other languages.

"'Chasing Ice' Documents Fast-melting Polar Regions." Minnesota Public Radio News. N.p., n.d.

Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

This website is good for a number of sources for their research reports. It has many things that

the students can find on the Holocaust, and it provides very interesting information on the

Holocaust and the people that were there and survived it. This would be a website that would

be good to show to my students, so that they can come familiar with it.

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Reflection Summary

From this project I have learned how to teach the material of the Holocaust to fifth

grades not eliminating facts, but including the severity according to the age of the children that

the lesson is created for. I will also learn how to branch out and teach other important historical

events for a fifth grade level. There are so many topics of discussion that link to the Holocaust

that we can talk about, and there are many lessons to be learned from the major lesson. So this

topic will help me arrange class discussions that are student ran, rather than teacher ran. This

project has not only helped me learn how to teach the material, but it has also given me an

insight on the modifications of activates and instructional strategies I would have to make in my

class every day for students that are in the stages of second language acquisition. Teaching

students that don’t speak the same language as you can be extremely difficult, and I could

imagine at times it can be very frustrating. However, a teacher’s job is to teach all of their

students in the way that works best for every student to succeed, and the same goes for English

Language Learners. For students that fit that category, I as a teacher might just have to put in a

lot of extra work in order to help them succeed, but I defiantly believe that it is worth it and

when they do understand and are doing well in the classroom it will be very rewarding. I have

learned many techniques for students to comprehend, such as using visuals, concrete items,

and other strategies to respond to these students, and I believe that they are very helpful to

use in the classroom. When I first started this class, I had no idea how I could ever work with a

child that didn’t speak English. I have taken Spanish classes, but I can speak fluent in Spanish.

Which could help me if have Spanish speaking students, so I am very thankful for having to take

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as many Spanish classes as I have, but there are many other languages spoken that I have no

experience with. That really worried me stepping into class on the first day, but after finishing

up the semester I realized I have learned an enormous amount about working with English

Language Learners. In fact, it excites me to know that in a few years I will graduate Roanoke

College and have a classroom of my own someday to get the honor of working with English

Language Learners and putting my knowledge to use. I realize I will make mistakes, but I will be

learning right alongside of them, and I will be that much of a better teacher to them because of

this class.